Fate Is A Predator
by FuckMePumps
Summary: [Set during Ice Age 2, slight spoilers] While crossing the geyser path, ever wondered what would happen if two members of the herd hadn't made it? Angsty oneshot, Manny POV. R


**a/n:** You know, it's when you write for such a random category such as this that you know you've finally lost it. Oh well, don't blame me, 'cause the minute I saw the sequel, innumerable plot bunnies materialized in my head. Of course, owning a DVD of the first movie and watching it over and over like a broken record probably helped too. This one is Manny-centric, but I have three more story ideas for Diego, Sid, and Pinky-centrics. Wow, I never fail to amaze myself. Beat that, Amaranth892!

**This story is set during a scene in 'Ice Age 2: Meltdown', in which Manny and Ellie just fought about which way to take to the boat and Manny heads into an area where geysers are constantly erupting, making Sid and Diego follow, somewhere right after Sid says _"I think drowning is a gentler way to go. 'Blown to bits' just seem so… sudden." _Slight spoilers.**

**disclaimer:** I do not own Ice Age, or its sequel Meltdown, or the song 'Let You Down' by Three Days Grace.

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**_I will let you down  
I'll let you down, I'll  
When you finally trust me  
Finally believe in me…_**

They tried to warn me.

A geyser exploded behind and I would have ignored it like I did the others, if not for the suddenly fast-paced beating of my heart that told me something was terribly wrong.

Instinctively, the first thing I did was to call out for them.

"Diego!" I freeze in place when I don't hear that familiar grunt that told me that saber-toothed tiger was right at the back of me.

"Sid!" The mind started to spin. My sloth friend didn't answer either, so I panicked.

"Guys? Where are you?" I looked around in a frenzy, hoping to see the glint of two elongated fangs or a blur of grey fur. Nothing, except for the barren landscape and the continuous bursting of the earth into gushes of water.

I backed up, then was halted by another geyser that spewed jet-streams into the air. Streams so strong that if a creature happened to stand right where they would come forth, the force of the water unto that body would be crushing and fatal.

"_No, please no…" _I pleaded silently to the all-powerful beings the humans worshipped. _"Not another family…"_

Family. Herd. Strange as it may seem, in those few months where we've been traveling together, I had come to call that smart-talking, sinister carnivore and lazy, comical, overgrown rodent my friends, and when those months grew into a full-fledged year, an indescribable force had bonded our little band of wandering misfits into what be considered a family.

Family. One thing I once lost…

For a moment, my mind dug deep and unearthed memories that caused pain every time I came across them, which, unfortunately, happened far too often. I remember my mate, whom Ellie reminded me of, and my own little baby mammoth.

They were taken away by hunters; that particular hunter whose own offspring I once returned to him. Along with Diego and Sid.

Family. One thing I didn't want to lose again.

Amidst detonating mounds that ejected the lethal torrents, I began to wildly search for any sign that hopefully, my friends were still alive. A silent voice in my head insisted otherwise, but I couldn't, _wouldn't_ believe it. They just _had_ to still be there, be safe, be alive.

Then, as if from a dream, I saw a glimpse of a figure in the distance, right before a geyser interrupted my view. But I saw something, I was certain.

"_Please be alive…"_

Without thinking, I rushed forward to the direction of the recognizable shape. Until I was only a few yards away, a flash of an orange-bronze coat told me it was Diego. I charged faster, and then he was just in front of me, lying on the ground; still, unmoving, his back turned.

"_Tell me I'm not too late…"_

I've seen him that way once, over a year ago; the agile body flaccid and helpless, stirring only because of the chilly North wind. It scared me. Death scared me, but not my own.

I touched the tip of my trunk to his shoulder to shrug him awake, but the further eruption from below was telling me that there was no time. I, _we,_ had to move. Sid was still yet to be found, but I had to take Diego to safety.

Despite protests I knew would come later (but then I realized that I was actually just _hoping_), I wrapped my trunk around the middle of his unconscious form, and slumped him in the crook of my neck, so he wouldn't fall off.

It seemed to take an eternity, but I finally got us out of the pandemonium. I laid him down turned him over to face me. His fur felt wet against mine, and ominously, cold. His green cat eyes were half-lidded, and he wasn't breathing.

"No…

"_Not again…"_

This can't be happening. No, not again, not another one…

"NO!" I heard myself shout. My eyes welled with tears, but they couldn't fall. Mammoths couldn't cry, though right at that instant, I desperately wanted to. I stood there, heaving, and even though the geysers were still spurting white-water, and the sound would have been deafening, my world was silent as a grave.

I wanted to shake him awake, but before my trunk could touch his limp form, I saw a trickle of blood coming from his slightly open mouth, staining one white fang with red. I stared, captivated and horrified at the same time as the warm blood slowly moved across the snow, snake-like, melting each individual flake and coloring it crimson.

The powerful blow from the geyser must have broken most of his bones, puncturing some of his internal organs. Somehow, knowing how it happened didn't make the reality easier to bear: He was dead.

He was dead, and there was nothing I could do about it.

"_He's gone…" _I couldn't say exactly what emotion took over me at that. Shock, remorse, hysteria, grief… it didn't matter.

Suddenly I remembered Sid. He was still out there!

By then, I could have searched for him, or his body at least, and wouldn't have turned up with anything. Only minutes after I realized Diego was truly dead, it started to flood. My mindset shifted to Ellie, and Crash and Eddie, and hoped against fragile hope that they had made it, that they were alright.

I don't know how, or why, but all of a sudden the water that only seconds ago was rising started to decrease until all that was left were mere puddles. It was a miracle, I think, and I was about to say some witty remark about survival when I grasped that there was nobody important left to hear it.

My eyes darted to where Diego's bleeding corpse had been, and took in the painful reality that it must have been washed away. That was the last of it. I had no one left.

I ran away from there, as fast as my thick legs can take me, until I couldn't run anymore. Guess Mammoths aren't made for running.

I never saw Sid, Ellie, Crash or Eddie after that. In my heart, I've never stopped hoping that they survived, and I've never stopped thinking either that the whole thing was my fault.

Ellie told us that it would be dangerous, and I should have listened. I barged on thoughtlessly, carelessly, and Diego and Sid had followed after me out of loyalty. Even then, halfway through, when they became aware of the fact that the situation had become slightly unsafe to perilous, they had attempted to persuade me to turn back, but I was too stubborn. I was always too stubborn.

Nevertheless, even though I could wish on every shooting star that passed by during those nights I am forced to spend alone that Sid, Ellie and the possum brothers were still living, miles away from where I was, it was Diego I always felt guilty for.

When I once saved his life, I didn't really know that I had been putting my own hide on the line. But when he did so for me before, he knew the risks, and look how I'd repaid him?

Nowadays, with what's left of my always-been-lonely existence, even passing tall, branchy, almost withered trees and seeing vultures feeding on grisly remains never failed to remind me of what I'd lost, for the second time. Occasionally, a few creatures would bug me constantly or try to befriend me, but I turn them down. I have to, for my sake as well as theirs.

In the end, they tried to warn me.

**_I will let you down._**

_Fin_

_**-**_

**a/n:** I killed Diego. Heehee, yeah, I have a knack for killing my favorite characters, and take delight in doing so. I'm kinda surprised it turned out this long. 1,265 words, baby!

Okay, so here comes the time when you click that little 'Go' button and type up a little review for little ole' me. Come on, it's the only thing that keeps me writing. So, if you want to see another one of mine in this category, please, please, please

**REVIEW!**


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